John,

Nearly 40,000 Texans have died from COVID so far, but Republican leaders who run the state don’t seem to care much about bringing us together in this crisis. This week at the Capitol we saw that they remain intensely focused on dividing Texans to push their narrow and extreme political agendas.

A Misguided State of the State
Gov. Abbott’s State of the State address on Monday highlighted the divisive political priorities of the very people whose mismanagement has made the COVID crisis so much worse in Texas.

Read our analysis of Gov. Abbott's State of the State

Abbott once again failed a key leadership test. Instead of using his speech to bring Texans together to meet our challenges, he focused on hot-button issues designed mostly to keep his political base happy: banning abortion, pretending religion is under attack, attacking local leaders addressing accountability in policing, and citing “election integrity” as an excuse to make voting harder in Texas.

Extremist Leaders for House Committees
Then House Republicans showed that they are ready to run wild with Abbott’s divisive agenda. Thursday’s announcement of who will chair key House committees during the legislative session offered a virtual who’s who of right-wing ideologues. Just three examples:

• Anti-abortion zealots like Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, and Rep. Stephanie Klick, R-Fort Worth, will turn their committees into parade grounds for legislation designed to ban the procedure entirely in Texas.
• Rep. James Frank, R-Wichita Falls, will head the Human Services Committee, giving him another shot at passing legislation to turn religion into a license to discriminate against LGBTQ Texans.
• And then there is the outrageous appointment of Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, to head the House Elections Committee. Cain traveled to Pennsylvania (see his now-deleted tweet below) last November to try to help then-President Trump’s efforts to overturn the election results there. He’s ready to push Abbott’s anti-voter agenda.

But while far-right leaders in Texas will be pushing a divisive, narrow agenda this legislative session, the Texas Freedom Network will be working at the Capitol for policies that unite us and reflect our common values: fairness, justice and equality for everyone, no matter who you are, how much money you have, or who you love.

In the fight,

Val Benavidez
TFN President

P.S. COVID isn’t stopping TFN’s political, communications and field teams from fighting back this legislative session. But we need your help! Your donation will provide us the resources we need to stay in the fight. Can we count on you?